Unions: Slowdown no excuse for redundancies

Mon 4 Aug 2008 at 3:40 PM

Unions have warned employers not to use the current economic slowdown as an excuse for making job cuts.

A recent KPMG survey revealed more than half (53 per cent) of executives were planning to reduce employee numbers, something the unions strongly oppose.

"When employers seek to use an economic slowdown as an excuse for job cuts, they should be assured that we will defend members to the hilt, and that we have the resources to do it," Roger Jeary, Unite's director of research told Personnel Today.

However, unions' power is "overstated" because of lower membership levels, Gerwyn Davies, public policy advisor at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development claimed.

However, he notes "figures show redundancies are still running at near record lows, and many employers are turning to alternative measures to save money," Personnel Today reports.

Government figures have revealed the trend in the unemployment rate is increasing and the trend in the inactivity rate is falling.

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